WAILUKU, Maui  Maui police today identified the driver of a rental car that plummeted off an ocean cliff near Kahakuloa last Thursday as Christian R. Dunker, 45, a chef from Park Ridge, Ill.

The 2005 Chrysler Sebring convertible Dunker was driving was headed toward Waihe'e on rugged, two-lane Kahekili Highway when he missed a right-hand curve and drove onto an unpaved shoulder and over a 300-foot cliff. The car burst into flames went it hit the rocks at the ocean's edge, killing Dunker, the lone occupant of the vehicle.

Maui Police Department traffic investigators said it does not appear Dunker tried to brake or swerve away from the edge of the cliff. An autopsy could provide clues as to whether he was under the influence of drugs of alcohol or may have suffered a medical emergency, police said.